The majority of sailors sail small boats, either small keelboats or dinghies, yet they often dream of sailing in beautiful, far-off places in big boats: forty-five to fifty foot bareboat charters. This is understandable. Dividing the expense of a bareboat charter between three or even four couples can make sailing in far off places affordable. And while it is possible to squeeze those same three couples into a thirty-two foot fiberglass hull, most people find a forty-five or fifty foot boat a little more congenial. Still, there are significant differences between sailing small boats and handling large ones which the charter companies are rightly aware of, and which potential charterers should be as well.
Fortunately, good small boat sailors already possess all of the most important skills required to handle large sailboats: they understand and are aware of the action of the wind on sails and the hull, they are sensitive to changes in boat speed, they know and understand all of the sail and rigging controls and how they affect speed and handling, they have had experience in dealing with all kinds of weather conditions, and therefore they anticipate change and the unexpected. All of that knowledge and skill is directly applicable to the handling of large boats. The only thing that is needed is the ability to anticipate the problelms that the much greater size and mass of a large charter boat pose for the small boat sailor and his crew.
Under Sail
In the Caribbean , the winds can blow at twenty-five to thirty-five knots for hours or days at a time. The loads on sails, lines and fittings is extremely high in these conditions. On small boats, the accidental luffing of a headsail or release of a line can be an annoyance or an embarrassement. On a large boat, the same incident can be extremely dangerous. The flapping clew of a 140% genoa in twenty-five knots of wind on a fifty foot boat can easily knock a person unconscious and overboard. In the same way, sheets which are not secured on their cleats can do great damage by releasing unexpectedly and dragging the fingers or even the hair of the unwary into winches, or removing large patches of skin from a casual crewmember’s hands.
In strong winds, even the roller furling of a jib cannot be taken for granted. If you go head to wind, the force required to winch in the furling line on a large masthead genoa may either break a well used line or winch the sail so tightly on the forestay that you come to the end of the line before the sail is completely furled. There is nothing worse than having eight feet of flapping genoa sticking out from the roller furler. On a small boat it would be possible to reach up and wrap a bungee cord or line around the loose sail. On a big boat, the flapping clew is fifteen feet off the deck and thrashing around with two, big one inch or inch and a half lines through it, held in place by bowlines the size of a fist. If it is left to flap, the corner will eventually be torn out of the sail. In those conditions, the only thing to do is deploy the genoa again and refurl it, this time downwind, buried behind the main. In a big boat, moving at nine to eleven knots, this all requires a certain amount of sailing room and preparation.
In large boats, you must plan your exits and entrances to moorages well in advance. Lower your sails early, and don’t get cocky. Last year, at a popular snorkeling spot in the BVI, a professional charter captain ran over my dinghy when, instead of motoring off his mooring ball next to me, he tried to sail off. He misjudged the direction and strength (25 knots plus) of the wind. When he popped the roller furled genoa on his forty-eight foot boat, he instantly discovered that he was overpowered on a close reach heading straight for my shrouds. As any experienced sailor knows, it can be really difficult to bear off in those conditions as long as the sails are full. Since he had only elderly charterers on board, no one responded to his direction to ease the sails. He did manage to bear off astern of my boat, but couldn’t avoid the dinghy which he struck amidships. How it managed to pop out from under his forefoot with the motor intact remains one of life’s mysteries.
Make sure that all halyards and sheets are securely cleated, but don’t overwrap the cleats. In case you want to change a setting in a hurry, you don’t want to have to undo four figure eight wraps. Make sure everyone on board knows how to put a line on a cleat and that they all do it the same way.
In addition to the usual warnings about staying clear of lines under load, be careful of footing. On a large boat, the platform on which one works is more stable than on a small boat, but the distances between handholds is greater and one tends to reach more for things. Occasionally one finds that one has to stretch and reach for things overhead, to pull down the headboard of the main, for example, or shake loose a halyard one suspects is fouled. Make sure that you know what you will be standing on before you make the big stretch to reach the line or fitting, otherwise when you go to tie up the aft portion of the main on the boom you may discover that the fall down the companionway on a big boat is a lot further than on your J 24.
Next: TIPS UNDER POWER
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